Monday, February 10, 2014

Snow Days, and a Couple of Updates

I want to thank everyone who stopped by with warm birthday wishes for One Hot Stove last week. I also appreciate all the suggestions for making this blog more useful. And I am serious about working on these suggestions as soon as possible; in fact, I've completed one of them this week. 1 down, ~17 to go!

Several people have been asking me to collect all my sewing projects in
one place because they tend to get lost among the recipe posts. Well, last night I made this Fiber & Fabric page while watching figure skating in the Winter Olympics. You'll see all my sewing and quilting projects listed there for easy access.

Another good suggestion for blog improvement was to go back to the old posts and update some of them (some of the oldest recipes don't even have pictures any more)- and in fact, I had been thinking of doing just that. After all, apart from being a diary of sorts and a weekly writing exercise, this blog is my recipe book. So often, I'll start cooking/baking by first opening the laptop and looking up the recipe on my blog. And over time, recipes need to be updated and refreshed as I tweak them.

This whole past week, we had an Israeli friend staying with us, and I busted out all our favorite hearty dinner recipes- tortilla soup, spinach lasagna, matar paneer. He appreciated everything and ate with gusto. Last night, I made Sri Lankan egg curry and he stopped short after one spoonful and declared quite definitely that THIS was his favorite thing I've made.

Sri Lankan egg curry was one of the first recipes I posted back in March 2005 and now I've updated it a bit with fresh pictures. See the new and improved recipe here. 9 years later, it still tastes "like the beach" and that's a welcome feeling this week.

You see, I have to run and get ready for a winter storm that's headed our way, the second one in two weeks. North America is in the middle of one of the harshest winters in recent memory. So severe is this winter that we're feeling the effects even here in the deep South, where even an inch or two of snow is enough to bring life to a screeching halt.

Our Duncan was mesmerized when he saw snow for the first time. He was first puzzled by it, then ran around madly in it, then he tried to eat it.

After 10 minutes of this, he decided that it made more sense to go take a nap on the couch. Smart dog.

Have a great week, friends. What's today's weather like where you are?

45 comments:

SriLankan Egg Curry is may favorite too! I follow Raghavan Iyer's recipe from his 660 Curries. Instead of the Srilanaka curry poweder, I add Kitchen King. I make this atleast 2 times a month as it is quick and easy.Love that you are updating your old recipes. I also typically tend to look up your recipes first!Btw what are you giving Lila's teachers and friends for Valentine's day? Oh I am in so need of some last minute ideas!

Kitchen King is such a versatile masala for a short cut curry! About Valentine's Day, I will probably make almond candy or biscotti for the teachers (both recipes are on the blog). And I make pins for her classmates based on this tutorialhttp://www.purlbee.com/the-purl-bee/2009/1/28/mollys-sketchbook-valentine-pins.html

Those pins are an easy project but I would not call it last minute because the hand sewing takes some time. This seems like a great last minute idea:http://blonde-designs.squarespace.com/blonde-designs-blog/2010/2/3/lip-and-moustache-lollipops.html

"What's today's weather like where you are?" LOL I am now living in the Sonoran Desert. It is 78 as I type this, windows are open and I'm thinking a monster salad for supper. You have my sympathy! I left Kansas last Monday before the snow storm. My winter coat, hat, gloves and scarf are now hung at the back of my closet.

We are going to be affected by the same snow storm. Upto 8 inches of snow is expected here. lets see how it goes. Stay safe and warm! Loved reading Duncan's reaction to the snow. it must be Lila's first snow experience too.

oh duncannnnnn ..you're a baby !! smart fella for sure ;))) I am in Mumbai...and the weather gods are confused i guess...2 days ago it was hot in the noons like mad..and suddenly over the weekend it got sooo chilly...we were busy taking out the warmers back again ;(the little one bore the brunt though..down with a viral :((( ..and the docs blame 'the weather'.

Awww Duncan! He's so adorable,funny and cheerful. Can't help loving him. :-) Please give him a hug from me.

I haven't tried this egg curry yet, we love egg curries and now I have a new one to try. I got some nutritional yeast and added it to the chowder, it tastes like cheese and you were so right about the umami. Thanks for introducing it to us, we love it!

Wishing you lots of warmth and coziness at home during the storm. We had record breaking low temps, wind and snow recently and to be honest, I love the valid reason of staying at home. If there's enough grocery, electricity and water I can happily stay indoors for the whole week and enjoy watching the snowfall from warm indoors.

I did give Dunkie a hug from you :) So glad the nutritional yeast worked for you, it is rather a nice ingredient to have on hand for soups and such. We're staying home and being all cozy today. With house guests, so it is a busy household.

Duncan is so lovable.. We have had lots of snow too this year... and really low temperatures.. Today there is no snow forecast so that's good and -17 deg C which is great especially since there have been too many days this winter with temperatures below -25 deg C. First time we saw an ice storm (beautiful) which caused lots of damage.. Well its part of life in Canada. :) Egg curry is one of my favourites.. and easy to prepare.. and pleases all at home. Will plan to make it this week. Hope that spring comes quickly for all of us.. and we make the most of the summer. Love your blog.. reading your thoughts and hope to be inspired by your projects. Michelle

I'm in Maryland and am waiting in anticipation for the big snow here on Thursday. Big snows are usually work from home day which is a welcome break really. My father-in-law has promised to make maddur vadai on Thursday and I plan to make some onion pakodas for the first time. yes, I am a novice cook and I usually steer clear of deep frying.Coming back to maddur vadai, I was just discussing it with my co-worker. If you've ever traveled from Bangalore to Mysore or vice versa there is this quaint lil' town called Maddur which is very famous for the vadai named after itself.. I have warm childhood memories where this was the highlight of the train journey. Almost everybody gets down to pick some up. Its a lovely delicacy if done right. You should check it out. Enjoy the snow days.

Sowmya- I wish I could work from home- right now, what I'm doing needs a program that's on my work computer but not on my laptop so I can't work and it is making me a little restless! Enjoy your snow days and pakodas/vadai.

And, I'm not sure if this is already mentioned in the 17 odd suggestions, can you please update the recipe list to cover all the recipes in the blog? For now I just use Google to check if a recipe am looking for has been posted here. Not a deal breaker at all, but if you are looking to make changes, it might be something to consider.

The curry looks great but I am not a big fan of eggs. I was force-fed raw eggs as a child by a family that had no clue how to cook it or had heard of salmonella and as a result, I have a life-long aversion to the said stuff. That being so, the rest of the menu - lasagne and mattar paneer - sound delicious.

The weather where we are has truly turned dreadful. It has been raining buckets for months and now the river has burst its bank. Just a couple of miles from where we live, roads and train lines are closed due to knee-deep water. It has been a very mild but torrential winter. It's like cold monsoon. The dire predictions of extreme weather conditions from a few years ago seem to have come true sooner than thought.

The egg curry looks delicious. I make egg curry quite often and it'll be nice to try a new recipe.We are experiencing a colder than usual winter here in Houston too. Sadly, no snow. I say sadly because then at least I'd have a reason to work from home :)

Freezing....it was single digit when I had to get out of the house to work in the morning :( I am so ready for Spring!When I was living down south I would wonder why all my friends who stayed up north talked about weather as the headline during our phone converstaions...Now I know why? :))Stay safe & warm Nupur!

Finally got time to read your last few posts. It had been crazy couple of weeks for me - first with the sick kid and then both of us. I'm so done with this winter. First, a very happy 9th dear OHS! Am sure this blog is going to run another decade and I'll surely be reading it :) I'm just amazed by your organizing skills, Nupur. How do you manage to get so many things done, especially with the kid. Looks like Lila is a good sleeper and leaves you some evening time. My DD was such a good sleeper until we moved and last couple of months have seen more downs than ups. I have two post requests for you - 1. can you share how you plan your week (I wish I could get up as early as you do), 2. A post on what you fed Lila as a baby and now. My daughter is just a month shy of being 1 and I really feel I'm struggling as to what to feed her. Thanks!

Thanks for the warm wishes, Amruta! Lila does sleep off around 7 PM leaving me 2 hours of time to myself. It is quite another story that she wakes up 2-3 times after midnight so sleep is very interrupted. About the post requests: I really don't plan my week. But I will say that waking up early is not so much the goal, rather go with your body clock! And I fed Lila everything that we ate ourselves. Nothing special at all.

Reporting from the bay area, nice and cloudy weather here..Just the way I like! Perfect for talking a walk or just cozying inside (any weather is good for this, me thinks) with nice coffee :)Loved the egg curry. I am not a fan of eggs..I will try it out with potato or cauliflower.

I have World Vegetarian and read it but, I have yet to cook from it.. just a mental block?I will try this curry base with some vegetable.Give Duncan a BIG warm hug. He is smart. Did Lila enjoy the snow?

I guess the weather is even worse now. Stay warm and stay safe. The worst of this weather is ice. Take care.

Hey Nupur, I am planning to make some V-Day breakfast/treat for my colleagues tomorrow. I am going to make your crustless mini quiches and some mini chocolate cupcakes, I am so excited! Can I make the quiches tonight or it needs to be made early morning?

Duncan is so cool ! I like how he went back for a nap ! Egg curry is really the quickest and tastiest option on a busy day. I make Mangalorean and Goan style with coconut, Sri lankan sounds fairly similar. I basically relish anything with coconut :) Stay warm and safe

Nupur, I neither visit nor leave comments as often as I would like to but I saw you celebrating a milestone recently and couldn't help myself but write. First off, hearty congratulations on the blog anniversary. Yours was one of the first blogs I chanced upon when I was not even thinking of blogging and I think you were doing your A-Z series at the time, which by the way was a wonderful event.

I think you write from the heart and your posts come out as very honest. You seem like a super talented woman just by looking at the variety of interests you have. That sustains any activity as is evident from the long run of your blog. Keep blogging, look forward to many more informative & interesting posts.

On a Duncan related note - we moved from Midwest to North West a few years back and Flora (our lab+terrier) relocated with us. She was born and brought up in the snowy, icy Indiana but doesn't get a chance to see a lot of snow here :-). She literally goes crazy when there is a little bit of the white stuff or when we take her up the mountains :-).

Thank you for this very kind note, Nagashree! I think our Duncan would love to meet your Flora :) It is so funny to see the puppies excited about snow. Of course it will hopefully be years before Duncan sees snow again ;)

Did i tell you i love your blog.....and i love Duncan with his beautiful striped face...and that i completely love your Sri Lankan egg curry!!!! infact making the spice mix has been on my to do list for really long....but iv been extremely busy with work and other things.....i used this mix once to jazz up a humble veg pulao and it surely worked wonders :)....cooking with Pedatha, a lovely book and a lovlier lady....i have been attached to this book at the inception stage itself and hence have met Pedatha on a number of occassions....so it felt really nice to see her book on your blog!!!!!